Ignore current human rights violations at your own peril

Human rights activists picket as part of the commemoration of 16 Days of Gender Based Violence along Kenyatta avenue, Nairobi. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

Today, lest you had forgotten, is International Human Rights Day (IHRD), the date when the global community commemorates the United Nation's adoption of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights in 1948. Franklin D Roosevelt is usually accredited as the inspiration and driving force for the Declaration following his famous 1941 speech outlining a vision for a peaceful and just world in which everyone would enjoy four basic freedoms: Freedom of Speech and Worship and Freedom from Want and Fear.

The day is not intended to be a mere commemoration, however, but an opportunity to assess the progress made and address the threats to rights everywhere. Think of the 12 million Uyghurs in China and the Rohingya community in Myanmar persecuted for their faith, not to mention the suffering people of Ukraine under siege from a terrorist named Putin. In neighbouring Ethiopia, half a million people have died of hunger in Tigray in the last two years as a result of a conflict with the government of a Nobel Peace Prize winner.